No Boundaries
by Meowmix1066
Summary: EC fic. Somewhat angsty. Somewhat romantic. Somewhat fluffy.
1. Default Chapter

Well, I started out wanting to write a nice fluffy E/C fic but this came out instead. I've decided it will still be an E/C fic but it won't be as fluffy as I wanted.

Just as a note, I haven't found any specifications on the length of time Calleigh was with John. For the purposes of this story I'm going to assume it ended with time enough for the events mentioned to happen.

Disclaimer: Not my characters.

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She couldn't believe it had been a year since Speed's death.

Calleigh Duquesne was on the range, firing practice shots as she usually did on the mornings of her days off. She found it was a great way to keep herself sane since, while her active mind concentrated on her shooting, she could delve into the issues that had buried themselves into her subconscious during the past week. It sure beat having to go to therapy.

This particular morning, however, Calleigh was dealing with more than just a week's worth of mental upsets. It was the anniversary of Speed's death and she was attempting to come to terms with the fact that she had just spent a year without him.

She had loved him, in her way. She had had trust issues of course. Having grown up with an alcoholic father she couldn't have been any other way. But Speed had understood and had had patience with her. Surprising considering his nature.

Although they hadn't intentionally kept their relationship a secret, nearly nobody knew that Calleigh and Speed were together due to their effort to keep their personal lives seperate from their professional. Impressive considering it's the job of those aorund them to uncover the truth.

The only person who had known, Calleigh found out later, was Alexx. The week before his death, Speed had asked Alexx to help him pick out an engagement ring. Alexx, forever the victim's voice, had sat Calliegh down after the funeral and told her of Speed's intentions. Calleigh, while deeply saddened and angry at the thought of what might have been, was nevertheless thankful to Alexx for giving her the security in the knowledge that at least once in her life, someone had loved her as much as she had loved him.

Calleigh sighed, set down the gun, and brought the target up so she could look at it. She ran her finger over the holes. One less than the amount of times she had shot. She knew exactly when she had missed; her mind had been stringing together random images of time spent with Speed when she remembered his face, above her own in the semi-darkness, his arms holding her reverantly. Her hand shook and she missed.

She took down the target and put up a new one. She was going to keep on until everything was out of her system and she made every shot perfectly. Better to miss on the range than on the field.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, so I decided to add to it. And it will be E/C, I promise. Feedback is welcome.

That said, let me state, for the record, that I hate when stories try to be serious and angsty and then involve a ghost.

Now, with _that_ said, as a writer I know better than to try and force a story to go in the direction I think it should go. Better to let it run the course it intends.

And so it goes...

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_One Year Earlier_

Speed felt very warm, a comfortable sleepiness suffusing his body. The feeling reminded him of the times when he was a child and his father would take him to the local high school football games. They'd come in late, way past Speed's bedtime, and suddenly all the excitement and adrenaline would be sapped out of him. His father would have to lay him in his bed and pull his shoes off while Speed occasionally fluttered his eyelids open in an attempt to stay awake.

Speed had that same feeling now. He could hear his father's voice encouraging him to stay awake but for some reason the words made less and less sense. He tried to repeat them but found his lips paralyzed. In fact, his whole body seemed too heavy. He struggled, trying to lift his arms or kick his legs but it was no use. Panic washed over him; he realized he couldn't even move his chest to breath, he was going to suffocate, he was going to die, dear God no--!

His panic snapped and he felt free. He tried again to move his arms but this time there was an even more compelling sensation, it was so light it was as though it didn't even exist.

He tried to open his eyes to look at his body but there was only darkness. He continued trying until the thought suddenly occured to him that, if he didn't have arms, (which was an idea that was beginning to confirm itself to him) maybe he didn't have eyelids to open either.

As he puzzled over this, his surroundings began to lighten. He perceived a dark grayness at first, then lighter, until it seemed as though he were floating in mist. Suddenly, a figure appeared. It was a woman with long, curly hair, dressed in a robe that matched the color of the mist so exactly that it almost seemed to be made of it.

"Who are you?" Speed asked.

"That's not important. The question is, who are you?"

He raised what he suspected to be a non-existant eyebrow.

"Timothy Speedle. Why?"

She looked down as if saddened.

"Timothy, do you know what happened?"

He thought back. He remembered getting up that morning, going to work, walking with H into the jewelry store...then came the memory of being shot, almost elusive, flitting like a bird around his memory.

"Jesus! Am I dead?"

She nodded.

"Where am I then? Is this heaven or something?"

She shook her head.

"Purgatory?"

"If that's what you'd like to call it," she answered.

He didn't, actually. Purgatory was a religious thing and he hadn't been very religious in his life. However, he couldn't come up with anything else so he let it go. Purgatory it was.

"What am I doing here?"

"You died," she started, but Speed interrupted her.

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

She paused and then continued as though he hadn't spoken.

This is where all spirits come after death to come to terms with it."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you don't feel ready to die."

"You got that right," he mumbled.

Again she continued, "You still consider yourself Timothy Speedle. You still feel as though you have a body. You still feel compelled to have an earthly purpose."

"Is that so?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yes. It is." A flash of annoyance crossed her face.

"Then what do I do here?"

"You watch. And listen."

"Right. Exactly. I should have figured that out myself," he said, looking at the mist around him.

"It really is very simple if you think about it. You haven't really gone that far, you're still on earth."

He stayed quiet this time, waiting for her to explain.

"Think of it as two seperate dimensions in the same location of the space-time continuum."

He thought about it for a moment and realized it was actually a simple thing to conceive. Death seemed to give one a whole new thought process, apparently.

While he was thinking, the mist began to recede. Soon it was completely gone and he saw that he stood in the jewelry store, now empty.

He furrowed his brow and looked at the woman again.

"Let me see if I'm following what's going on here. I'm dead, right?"

She nodded.

"And now I'm in some sort of purgatory, all because I did not want to die, I might add, and this purgatory thing is some weird dimension that coexists with the earthly dimension?"

Again she nodded.

"And, apparently, I'm supposed to wander around, watching life and _that's_ going to make me accept death?"

"That's the gist of it, yes."

"Just exactly _how_ does that work?" he asked angrily.

"It won't help to explain it to you so I won't."

He nodded vaguely, not really hearing her as he looked down and found he seemed to have his body back, even if it was only in spiritual form.

"And obviously I can see them but they can see me," he said, half to himself as he continued inspecting himself and the jewelry store.

"Yes, there is no interaction. You simply watch."

He felt a defeated weariness settle over him.

"Ok."

And so he watched, aware of the passage of time only through the turn of events he saw. He watched his own funeral, he watched his friends, he watched the crime lab, he even watched as crimes were committed, later wishing he could help the CSIs investigating.

Mostly though, he watched the woman he loved, Calleigh, with a longing that transcended mortality, immortality and everything in between.

He saw when Horatio, unknowing of the relationship between Calleigh and Speed, gave her the gun to process. He saw as she continued to live her life for the next few months, stoically betraying none of her inner turmoil until, finally, one day while stopped at a red light, she burst into tears and sighed his name.

And he also saw, over a year later, as she began to date his friend and coworker, Eric Delko.


	3. Chapter 3

Guess what? I found some fluff in this fic after all. Not so much in this chapter but in future ones, yes. I'm so excited! Let the E/C fun begin!

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Eric Delko was in the trace lab, speaking with a technician of the contents of a vial found at a murder scene. They were just discovering it was morphine when Calleigh walked in.

Eric looked up.

"Morphine," he said.

"Morphine?" she repeated. "Did the killer drug the victim?"

Eric allowed himself the briefest of moments to enjoy her accent before continuing to focus.

"I'm not sure yet, the bottle we found looked full but that's not to say there weren't others. I'm about to go see Alexx to find out what she knows," he said as they stepped out of the lab together.

She nodded. "I'll go down with you but after that I was thinking of a lunch break since I'm waiting for DNA to get back to me. Want to join me?"

Did he want to? Of course he did. He'd always found her an attractive woman but, in the past couple months she seemed to have softened the slightest bit in their interactions. It was enough to let Eric see a personal side of Calleigh and he was coming to realize that he wanted to see more.

However, he was reluctant to initiate anything. With her brisk professionalism, she didn't seem to be the type to mix much of her personal life with her professional. That wouldn't stop him from accepting her invitation, though. He smiled at her as they stepped into the elevator.

"Sounds great. Did you have anyplace in mind?"

"I heard there's a new deli downtown, we could try it," she said.

"It's a plan," he said, letting her step off the elevator before him.

When they reached Alexx she was just beginning the autopsy on Eric's victim.

"I'm sorry guys," she started, "Horatio asked me to look at his victim first. Said it was urgent."

"The rape victim?" Eric asked.

Alexx nodded.

"They must have run into a stumbling block," Calleigh murmured.

"If you want to come back later, I'll have the answers for you," Alexx said as she pulled on a fresh pair of gloves.

"Well maybe we can help you out a bit," said Eric. "We found a vial of morphine near the body, the victim may have been drugged."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Alexx.

They said goodbye and Eric and Calleigh left the lab. Eric held the door open for her and touched the back of her arm with the tips of his fingers in subconscious guidance before following her out. Her skin was soft.

"My car or yours?" he asked as they walked along the sidewalk in front of the building.

"I'll drive," she offered, pulling her keys from her purse. Eric saw a flash of red on her keychain and reached over to turn it over in her palm. It read 'License to Bitch.'

He started laughing.

"Calleigh Duquesne, I never would have expected you to have a keychain like that!"

She smiled.

"Well, I have to keep you men I work with on your toes, don't I? Besides, I didn't buy it, a friend gave it to me." Her smile softened as she remembered.

When she and Speed were just beginning to be more than friends, she surprised herself by, one night, unburdening herself of all the things that had ticked her off that day in an uncharacteristic rant. Afterwards Speed had chuckled and said that he'd seen a new side of her. She covered her face, mortified at having lost her composure, until he stroked her hair and told her it was alright, that he'd listen if she ever wanted to do it again.

The next day she found the keychain in her locker. Just how and when he got it in there, she never asked. But he had had the goofiest grin on his face later that evening when she pulled it out to find her apartment key.

She pulled her mind out of the past as she and Eric reached her car. Minutes later they entered the deli, ordered and sat down to eat. After chatting idly for a while about their cases, Calleigh leaned forward.

"I don't want to be a snoop but, is there something between Horatio and Rebecca?"

At that Eric leaned back and laughed.

"You could say there is," he said finally. "They've been seeing each other for about a year!"

Calleigh's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "Does everybody else know?"

He shook his head.

"They haven't exactly been shouting it from the rooftops, but they're not outright hiding it either. I know. Ryan knows. I'll bet Stetler knows."

She nodded, realizing just how out of the loop she'd been. She wondered what else had been right in front of her for the past year.

"So how serious is it?" she asked.

"Well, there's no wedding plans as of yet but they seem to be serious enough."

"I'm glad if Horatio is happy."

"Yeah, but I wonder if it becomes a problem trying to keep all the stuff that happens at work out of the relationship," he said.

She shook her head. "It doesn't have to be a problem as long as they both communicate."

"So you'd be willing to have a relationship with a person you work with even though it's not exactly kosher?"

She looked out the window.

"If it was the right person, yes."

Eric, not knowing quite the right way to proceed from that statement, checked his watched instead.

"We should be getting back."

She looked back at him, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, you're right, let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

Calleigh unlocked the front door of her apartment, her longing to kick back and relax so strong she almost decided to just plop down right in the tiny foyer to wait for the strength to venture on. Almost. Instead, she forced herself to her kitchen where she pressed play on her answering machine and sat at the table with a granola bar.

As she nibbled, she listened to the lone message that had been left: a pre-recorded greeting that urged her to call back (at $9.95 a minute, no doubt) to claim a prize. The machine went quiet and she stopped crunching. How long had it been since someone had called her just to talk? As she struggled to remember, her mind wandered to the earlier discussion of Horatio and Rebecca. It unnerved her to think that she had missed seeing something right in front of her. To push it further, she worried that maybe it was a trend she was carrying over into her job, as well. Was it possible that at some point she could have missed something while trying to solve a case?

But no, that wasn't likely. The whole reason she had been missing so much in the outside world was due to the fact that she had been throwing herself rather deeply into her work for the past year. There was nothing to worry about.

Except there was. She didn't have fun anymore, she didn't have a social life. She was still young and, being unattached, she should be out every night (or at least every weekend) painting the town red. Instead, she had spent the past year brooding and bringing home far too many case files to review.

God forgive her but she didn't want to live like that anymore. Speed was dead, yes, but she wasn't and, guilty as it made her feel, she didn't want to mourn him anymore. It didn't mean that she had stopped loving him nor had she stopped missing him, but something had snapped inside her that morning she spent on the range, nearly three months ago. Maybe that was why, since then, she had begun to let her guard down a bit; she wanted to rejoin the living.

She stood up. She decided she was going to enjoy her evening. First, she'd start with a delicious soak in the tub, then, a little later maybe, she'd take a trip to the mall and do some holiday shopping. The stores would be busy and she felt the need to have people around her.

Once in the bathroom, she turned on the tub and put a capful of scented bubble bath in the water before shedding her clothes. As she stepped into the water the warmth seemed to seep through her body, relaxing her muscles to the consistency of jelly. She leaned her head back and blissfully thought of nothing. It was the perfect end to a crappy day.

Well, partly crappy. Lunch had been good. She always enjoyed, both as a person and as a woman, spending time with Eric. He was nice and polite but he wasn't some stick in the mud, either. He always gave as good as he got, with a sense of humor that often put her own to shame. And she'd be lying if she said she didn't check out at least one of his amazing body parts or another on a daily basis. The man took care of his body and it would be insulting not to notice, right?

But it was more than that. She was never one for "damsel in distress" displays and he respected that. However, where most men would then turn to treating her like one of the guys, Eric still treated her like a lady, and _she_ respected that. Like how he had held open the door for her today, that made her feel good.

She smiled to herself. She could still practically feel his fingers on her arm.

Ok. She was too smart a woman to deny something to herself. Considering that she had just spent the majority of her bath contemplating the wonders of Eric, she realized she had the hots for him.

Not that she was surprised. After all, she had just spent a year devoid of practically _any_ physical contact of any kind. She was starved for attention and, due to proximity, Eric was the logical direction for her mind to stray. It wasn't that big a deal.

She stood up, letting the water drip off her body before she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel. The evening was about getting out of her apartment and suddenly she was anxious to be going.


	5. Chapter 5

Eric groaned when he saw the crowd of people that were between him and Victoria's Secret. Had everybody decided that tonight would be the perfect night to go shopping? Of course he had expected it, being the Christmas season and all, but honestly, was it too much to hope for even a small pathway? The crowd surged and he decided to flow with it. Eventually he'd get there.

He walked into the store and tried to act like he knew exactly what he was doing. The sad thing was, he sort of did. This was a yearly operation for him since his sisters asked for lotions, creams, sprays and other such nonsense whenever he asked them what they wanted for Christmas. He wondered if they thought that, by giving him that answer, they were making it simple for him. Well, maybe it was for them.

He sighed and walked into the separate section for body care products. It was almost as crowded as it was outside the store. And it didn't help that there were display tables placed randomly around the store that were decorated with things that looked breakable. He felt like somesort of humanoid klutz, larger than life since most of the other customers were women and he could see clear over their heads.

Gritting his teeth, he scanned the walls for what looked the most expensive and the classiest. He carefully made his way over and settled in for several sniff tests. They may be his sisters but he didn't want them to smell bad.

He had just picked up a bottle of Vanilla Lavender body spray when he felt someone brush against his arm.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" the woman said, turning with an apologetic smile. The smile quickly turned to surprise at the sight of him. "Eric!"

It was Calleigh. Calleigh was standing with him in a lingerie store. He couldn't help it, he let his eyes slide down to what she was holding in her hand. He immediately wished he hadn't though, because it was a baby blue bra and panty set. Suddenly, all he could see was Calleigh. Wearing it.

Calleigh's face then turned from surprise to embarrassment as she realized what he was looking at.

"It's for a friend. For Christmas. You know," she stammered.

Uh-huh. He knew. He knew women didn't buy lingerie for each other, which meant the sheer bra and skimpy panties were for her. He wondered how he was going to survive working with her, everyday wondering if that set is the one she's wearing that day. It might even eventually kill him but damn, what a way to go! He just smiled, accepting her story. She looked a tiny bit relieved.

"Eric," she said, reaching for the bottle in his hand, "I don't think Vanilla Lavender is your scent."

He smirked. "Thanks for the advice," he said.

"No problem," she said with a chuckle. "Who are you buying it for?"

"My sisters. They always want this stuff and I never know what to get."

"Have you ever tried Bath and Body Works?"

He looked slightly confused, which she took to mean no.

"Come on, it's downstairs, let me ring up and I'll show you."

Rather than embarrass her further, he walked outside of the store to wait while she checked out. Ten minutes later she came out with the tell-tale pink bag clutched in her hand.

"Where did you say this place is?" he asked, trying to keep up with her as she seemed to melt through the crowd.

"It's downstairs, we have to find the escalator," she called back to him.

When they entered the store she made a beeline to the right hand wall. Eric found that the setup of the store was much like Victoria's Secret and he felt gargantuan as he followed her.

He finally made it to her side in time for her to stick a bottle under his nose. "Do you like this?" she asked.

He pulled back a little. "It smells like lemons."

"It's Verbena and Lemon. Le Couvent des Minimes. It's a fantastic line. Look, they have Honey and Shea too. Ooh, and Lavender and Acacia."

Again he almost got popped in the nose. "Calleigh, since you're helping me why don't you just pick out all the things a woman needs and I'll buy it?"

"Eric!" she scolded, "you've got to put some effort into this, they're your sisters!"

"You don't understand," he said, bordering on whiny, "every year they ask me for this stuff without a hint to go by. Every year they unwrap it and get excited. And, I'm sure of this, every year they take it back to the store to exchange it."

Calleigh rolled her eyes at him. He was such a man.

"Ok, so I'm going to help you. But you have to participate."

Eric nodded his agreement and then his eyes wandered to the next display over, where he picked up a tube of cream. He smelled it and held it out to her.

"It smells like chocolate," he said.

This time it was her turn to pull back.

"Ugh. No woman wants to smell like," she looked at the tube, "like Chocolate Fondue."

He thought about it. Calleigh's scent was never that sweet, it was more subtle and clear, and interestingly enough, somewhat lemony. Well, at least he knew she was speaking from experience when she praised the Le Coov business. He took the tube from her and put it back.

"Good boy," she said.

He looked back at her with his own look of surprise, which made her laugh. He attempted to scowl at her but it just made her laugh harder, and Calleigh laughing was too nice a sight for Eric to remain scowling so he ended up laughing as well.

When they finally emerged from the store, Eric was weighed down with two full bags and a much lighter wallet. He didn't care though, for once he felt he'd gotten the right things for his sisters and he got to spend time with Calleigh without having to mess with dead bodies. It was certainly a step up.

They both walked slowly past the other shops, each feeling like the evening was coming to a close and neither of them wanting it to.

"What time is it?" she asked.

He turned his wrist up to check. "Almost 9:00," he answered.

"Oh." She stopped and faced him. "Eric, you want to have some fun?"

He looked at her with what was probably the millionth confused look that evening.

"Uh, sure. How?"

"How long has it been since you've been in a pair of ice skates?"

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A/N: Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works are real stores (I actually work at Bath and Body Works.) Le Couvent des Minimes is a real line of body products sold at BBW and all three scents mentioned exist. The Chocolate Fondue scent Eric picked up is from the Tutti Dolci line which has six different scents, all of which smell like some sort of dessert.


	6. Chapter 6

The ice skating rink was only a few miles away so they drove separately rather than leave one car in the mall parking lot. They met at the door and he paid their way in, claiming it was the least he could do after she had helped him shop.

The majority of the crowd that populated the rink was either teenagers or young couples. Calleigh and Eric, although young, were not a couple so they resorted to acting like teenagers. The first thing they did was race, of course. Calleigh kept winning until finally, Eric came zooming up behind her and didn't stop. He grabbed her around the waist and tried to let his momentum carry them but she fought back. They tumbled to the ice together, sprawled out, arms and legs tangled.

They ended up like that several more times, until Eric admitted defeat. They hobbled off the ice, Eric with a bruise forming on his right cheek and Calleigh with what she was sure was a black and blue backside. They ordered some hot chocolate and then sat in a booth, facing each other.

"Remind me never to get in a fight with you," he said, gingerly running a finger over his bruise. "Does it look bad?"

She grinned widely. "It looks like you got beat up!" she chirped. "Are you going to tell everyone it was me?"

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?"

"Well, I do have a reputation to maintain. Bringing down the mighty Eric, that'd sure be a notch in my belt, wouldn't it?"

"Sure would. Would you like me to sign a statement for you, attesting to the truth and validity of your claim?"

"Oh honey, I have no pity for you, you brought this on yourself. If you hadn't grabbed my belt loop I would have been out of there."

"And let you get away? Never!"

They laughed again and finished up the rest of their hot chocolate.

"It's getting late, isn't it?" Calleigh asked, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah," he answered and then hesitated before continuing, "Calleigh, I had a really good time this evening."

"So did I Eric, thank you."

They left then and he walked her to her car, muttering the whole while that _she_ should be the one to walk him to his car since she had stripped him of his masculine pride.

"The bigger the muscle, the bigger the baby," she teased, climbing into her car. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She shut her door and watched him walk to his own car, wondering why they had never done anything like this before. At least it was a start, though. It was nice to have finally gone out and had a good time. And it was also nice to know that she and Eric got along just as well outside of work as they did during.

She was exhausted when she arrived home and was grateful to crawl under her covers and fall sound asleep. For the first time in a long time she slept through the night.

The next morning, Calleigh and Eric were going through collected evidence when Horatio came in. He stopped short when he saw Eric's bruise.

"Eric, what the hell happened to you?"

"Calleigh beat me up," Eric said calmly as he continued examining a shirt.

Horatio looked from Eric to Calleigh, who hadn't even looked up from the pair of pants she was inspecting, and then back to Eric, trying to figure out the joke.

"Well," he said finally, "you don't ask about my sex life so I won't ask about yours." With that he walked out.

Seconds later the room was filled with their laughter.

"What did he come in here for?" she asked, catching her breath.

"I think we caught him off guard and he forgot."

"So somewhere out there is a disconcerted Horatio," she said. "Do you think the world is ready for that?"

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," he answered with a quirk of his lips. "Oh look, a hair." He held it up for her to see before he dropped it into an envelope.

"Very nice," she said and they lapsed back into silence.

For the next ten minutes neither said anything until Eric spoke up again.

"Do you have plans for tonight?"

"No, why, do you want a rematch?"

"Think you're cute, don't you? But no, that's not what I had in mind."

"Oh? Then what were you thinking?"

What he'd been thinking of all night and most of the morning had actually been the lingerie she had bought the night before, and the best way he could take it off of her, but he couldn't tell her that.

"How about dinner?"

"Ooh, someplace nice, I hope?"

"Of course," he said, refolding the shirt he'd been working on. "I'll pick you up at seven." He then picked up the envelope containing the hair. "Right now, however, I've got an appointment with DNA."

It wasn't until later that Calleigh realized that the plans she and Eric had made for that evening could be misconstrued as a date, but she quickly put it out of her mind. It was certainly not a date because two adult friends could go out and have a good time without having anything romantic involved.

That was no reason not to look nice, though, so when she got home that evening she made sure to touch up her make-up and hair and to change out of what she'd worn that day to work.

At seven o'clock there was a knock on her door. She opened it and found Eric holding two grocery bags.

"I changed my mind," he said, "how do you feel about homemade spaghetti?"

"You're going to cook me dinner?" she asked, grinning.

"If you'll let me," he said as he followed her inside.

"Of course I'll let you." They entered the kitchen. "Oh I feel so spoiled!"

He laughed at her and set about emptying the grocery bags of the noodles, a package of Italian bread, the odds and ends needed to make the sauce and finally,

"Ta-da!" he said. He pulled out a bottle of wine.

"Oh, Eric, I don't—" She stopped as he showed her the label. It wasn't wine at all, it was sparkling grape juice. He remembered that she didn't drink. "Thank you," she murmured.

No problem," he said, "Now, do you happen to have an apron?"

She started to laugh but then she realized he was serious.

"Let me check the closet," she said and disappeared down the hallway. The only apron she could find was one she had made in her junior high home ec class. It was frilly and hot pink. He blinked when he saw it but put it on anyways.

"Mind if I take some pictures?" she asked.

"Oh sure, emasculate me and then take pictures."

"Hey, you're the one who asked for the apron."

"Yeah but, hot pink?"

She sniffed airily. "I'll have you know that hot pink was _very_ in when I made that."

"So were black trans ams but you don't see me driving one."

"No, you just have that camaro tricked out so much I could hear you coming a block away."

He put a hand over his heart.

"You wound me! You should have been able to hear me from at least two blocks!"

She rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh.

"Hey, a guy's got to have a hobby," he said defensively.

"I thought that was swimming?"

"Ok, fine, a guy has to have his toys."

"Boys and their toys."

"Like you can talk, you're the one who drives around in that monster SUV."

"At least it's not a Hummer."

Their eyes met and they couldn't help but crack up.

"Did you ever find out what Horatio wanted?" she asked him.

"Yeah, he caught me on the way to DNA to ask me how I think Ryan's progress has been."

"Review time for the newbie. Fun."

He laughed and turned to her can opener. She came around the counter.

"What can I do?" she asked, but he shooed her away.

"Just sit down and direct me to your pots and pans. I'll deal with everything else."

So she did, perching herself on the opposite side of the counter and watching him as he moved deftly around her tiny kitchen. Even with the pink apron he was very attractive, wearing khaki pants with a maroon shirt that helped to outline the muscles of his arms and chest. She found herself sighing slightly as he bent to place the bread in the oven. Finally the timer dinged and he served up two plates.

"Eric, this is delicious," she said after taking a bite. "Where did you learn to make it?"

"I had a roommate in college who was Italian. He showed me that the trick to a perfect sauce is to mix tomato paste with tomato sauce to make it thicker, add a bit of sugar to cut the acidity and don't be stingy with the spices."

"I'm impressed. It's been my experience that single men only know how to do two things. Microwave or order in."

"See, I like to eat so I had to learn to cook when I moved out."

"Well, I'd say you learned well Grasshopper."

He took her praise gracefully, smiling his little boy smile. She loved the way the smile sat on his face, the way his lower lip tended to stick out, and especially how it was directed totally to her.

When they finished Eric began to clear the table.

"Eric, leave those, I can get them later."

"No, I started the mess, I'll clean it up."

Both could tell the other was going to be stubborn so they compromised. They did the dishes together.

Calleigh was turned away from him to close the dishwasher when she felt the flick of a towel on the back of her knee. Before he could even blink she turned and snatched the towel from him, flicking back. He grabbed at it and caught it midair, which started a tug of war. He let her pull at it until he was separated from her by a mere fraction of an inch. However, she had also managed to back herself against the sink. He moved forward slightly and pinned her.

Being a head taller than she was, she had to crane her neck to look up at him. Despite their position she grinned cheekily and said, "I win."

"You want to rethink that?" he asked, smiling down at her. He then put a hand on either side of her, making escape impossible.

She swallowed as the game they were playing turned heavy. Suddenly it was as though her brain couldn't focus on anything but the hips pressed against her belly and the hands that grazed her ribs. She vaguely wondered if he knew that he was the strength holding her up since her legs had completely given out on her.

She knew what she was feeling and she knew he was feeling it too. It was there, written plain as day on his face and so it must be on hers as well. She drew in a shaky breath to try and calm herself but he was going to have none of that, oh no, because he lowered his head to follow that breath and any calm that she may have been able to cling to disappeared.

His lips moved on hers, not demanding, but rather persuading her to give in to him, which she did. She suddenly had the absurd notion that her whole life had been leading up to this one moment and that there would be a new meaning to things when it ended. A giddy energy rose from the pit of her being, prompting her to move her hands along his sides and then wrap around his back. His own hands came up to cup her flushed cheeks and then ran through her hair, pulling out the clip she had used to hold it back. It fell to the floor, forgotten.

How long they remained locked like that, neither knew. Eventually he pulled away, his breathing heavy, and stepped back. They looked at each other, eyes wide, wondering who would be the first to deny or justify what had just happened.

"Calleigh, I'm sorry," he started, his voice hoarse, but she shushed him.

"No, it's ok," she said, her own voice barely above a whisper.

"I think I should be going."

She agreed. If he didn't leave, something was going to happen that she wasn't sure she was ready for.

"I'll walk you to the door then," she said, walking ahead of him to put more distance between them.

After he left, Calleigh went back to the kitchen. She saw the hair clip on the floor and picked it up, worrying it in her fingers as she replayed the scene over and over in her mind. It looked like it was going to be another sleepless night for her.

------

A/N: I understand that Eric and Calleigh's cars have been shown before and that what I have in the above story may not coincide with what was shown. If that is the case then they bought new ones, ok? Or rather, Eric has two, the camaro is, as he stated, his toy.


	7. Chapter 7

For the next week Calleigh and Eric only saw each other at work. They tried to act as though nothing had happened, but their interactions were strained. Those who worked closely with them were even beginning to notice.

"They so totally like each other, he should just ask her out already," Valera said to Ryan one day after they watched Calleigh and Eric stiffly discuss the results Valera had handed them.

"I bet he won't," Ryan replied.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because some people are just too dense to realize they're perfect for each other," he said as he picked up his own results and headed for the door.

And so it continued until one morning Calleigh came to work and treated everyone to the same tight lips and brisk professionalism that Eric had been receiving. This time though, it had nothing to do with him. At least, he hoped it didn't. He was eventually able to corner her in the hallway to the morgue.

"Calleigh, what's wrong?"

She mumbled something about a new tech giving her the wrong data and tried to brush past him. He moved, blocking her path.

"No, there's something else, I can understand you giving me the cold shoulder, but Ryan's been off licking his wounds all morning."

She gave him her best 'please stop exaggerating' look. He threw up his hands. "Hey, all I'm saying is that he doesn't understand why you ignored him this morning. And neither does anyone else for that matter. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Eric."

"It must be something or it wouldn't be upsetting you."

"Don't worry about it then."

"Too late."

"Fine. My father has decided to go to Louisiana for Christmas."

Eric blew out a breath. "We're on call that day."

"Exactly. I can't leave."

"Have you told him this?"

She nodded.

"And he's still going to go?"

"Yup. Says he's sorry but it's been too long since he's seen my brothers."

"Calleigh, you know you're welcome to spend Christmas with my family."

"Oh, Eric, thank you but—"

"No, seriously, consider it. You've met my mother before, you know she'd love to have you over."

"Really, I couldn't—"

"You'd get to see how my sisters like their gifts," he said enticingly.

She couldn't help but laugh and he saw a tiny bit of light return to her expression.

"Alright, ok, I'll come."

"Good. Now, there's a certain wounded puppy you should apologize to."

"Ryan? I'm sure he'd already been tended to by Valera, they like each other, you know."

"Yeah, but ten bucks says he'll never ask her out."

"Why not?"

"Because some people are just too dense to realize they're perfect for each other."

After that conversation, things loosened up between Eric and Calleigh. They never spoke of the kiss but there was an air of agreement that they were rational adults and shouldn't let it bother them any longer. Both continued to convince themselves it hadn't meant anything anyways.

Christmas morning saw Calleigh up at her usual hour of six a.m. Leaving the rest of her apartment darkened, she turned on the lights decorating her tiny tree and watched them blink as she sipped her coffee. As furious as she was about her father leaving her, she could understand it, she hadn't seen her brothers in a while either. Besides, Eric had been kind enough to invite her to spend the day with his family and she was looking forward to it.

She took her time getting ready, after all, it was Christmas and Eric wouldn't be coming to pick her up until nine. She took a shower, blow dried her hair, and then sat at her vanity to apply her makeup. When she was finishing up, the box that held her crucifix caught her eye. She took it out and looked at it, debating on whether or not to wear it.

She had inherited the necklace from her maternal grandmother, who had been the one to insist that Calleigh be baptized in the Catholic faith. She had also made sure that Calleigh received her First Holy Communion, but had died shortly after that. Since neither one of Calleigh's parents seemed to think that instilling religion on their children was important Calleigh hadn't been to church in years andas a resultdidn't even see herself as being Catholic.

But the Delko family was, and wearing the necklace, especially on a day like Christmas, wouldn't hurt her. She clasped it around her neck.

Eric arrived promptly at nine o'clock, holding a gift. "Here," he said, pressing it into her hands, "it's going to get crazy over there so I want you to open this now."

She sat on the couch and shook it, trying to guess what it was. Clothes? She opened it.

"An apron!" She burst out laughing and then dug through the bag of presents she had ready for Eric's family.

"You've got to open yours," she said, placing it on his lap. He did, also pulling out an apron.

"Well, you know what they say about great minds," he quipped.

They laughed again and Calleigh suddenly had the thought that she didn't remember laughing at all the previous Christmas.

"Eric," she started, wanting to say something that conveyed her gratitude without exposing the reason why. "Eric, thank you, I really love it," she finally said.

"You do?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Well then, I guess there's no reason to give you this then." He pulled out a small box from his pocket and her eyes widened as he handed it to her.

"Oh, Eric," she breathed when she saw what was inside. It was a thin silver bracelet with tiny delicate butterflies dangling from it. "Eric, I can't accept this." She tried to hand it back to him but he just took it, pulled her hand towards him, and latched the bracelet around her wrist.

"I saw it and it made me think of you. I want you to have it." What he didn't explain was that, knowing what he did about her background, butterflies always reminded him of her. It took strength and determination for a butterfly to escape the confines of its cocoon and show the world it's true colors. Calleigh had escaped the confines of a desperate childhood, a childhood permeated with alcohol, to become a self-assured independent woman. To Eric, both scenarios were nothing short of miraculous.

Calleigh lifted her wrist, watching the silver catch the light. She was trying to avoid the implications involved in receiving jewelry from a man on Christmas by convincing herself it was merely a friendly gesture on his part. He was a sweet guy, and gracious, it wasn't so far-fetched that he'd see something and want her, his friend, to have it, right? Of course it wasn't.

She brought her wrist back down. "Thank you," she said simply.

They left soon after that, riding in companionable silence all the way to his parents' house. They arrived at the same time as Eric's oldest sister, Doris, and her family. As they made introductions in the yard, the rest of the family spilled out of the house to greet the stragglers. What ensued could only be described as borderline mass chaos.

As everyone helped to transport presents and special dishes into the house they periodically stopped, distracted by each other, to talk. It was in this way that Calleigh managed to meet Doris in the front yard, Yulia in the living room, and Marisol in the kitchen. She chatted with each one briefly, finding that Eric's sisters were just as personable as he was. When she reached the yard again, Eric attempted to give her a rundown on the children. However, it was difficult to tell exactly where Eric was pointing since the kids had decided to start up a lively game of tag. In the end, the only child of whose name and parentage she was sure of was Marisol's six-month-old daughter, Celisse.

Things settled down slightly when the kids realized that there were more presents to be opened and converged on the living room floor to do so. After a flurry of wrapping paper and many delighted squeals, the children, suddenly bored with such close adult supervision, took their new toys to the backyard to play. The adults then took their turn to open presents.

Calleigh watched with amusement as, after opening their presents from him, Eric's sisters attacked him with affection, showering him with kisses. He struggled to keep them away but when they finally pulled back he was smiling through his blushes.

"You see what I had to grow up with?" he asked Calleigh, rubbing lipstick off his cheeks. She reached up to wipe away a spot he had missed but didn't answer, she was laughing too much.

When the women left the men to go to the kitchen, Calleigh joined them, enjoying the air of womanly camaraderie as they set about their tasks. During the in-between moments, they all sat around the island counter and gossiped. Eric's mother was the one to mention him first.

"I'm just so happy that you and Eric are finally together," she said. "He always talks of you."

Calleigh's jaw dropped. "Mrs. Delko—"

"Please, call me Clorinda."

"Clorinda, Eric and I are not together."

The sisters passed surprised looks with their mother.

"But you like him though," said Yulia.

"Of course I like him," Calleigh started, "we work together, we're friends—"

"She means you _like_ him," Marisol said.

Calleigh didn't answer but could feel her face turn red. The other women noticed and gave her smiles.

"He likes you, you know," Doris said.

"He's always talking about you," said Marisol.

"Why aren't you two together?" Yulia asked.

Calleigh didn't really have many close girlfriends to talk to and she found herself wanting to confide in these women. She wondered how familiar they were with Eric's work life and tried to decide if they'd even know who she was speaking of if she mentioned Speed's death. She decided to be vague.

"I haven't really thought about dating anyone for over a year. The man I was seeing died."

The women made sympathetic noises and Clorinda reached over to pat her hand.

"Besides," Calleigh continued, trying to keep the mood from turning depressed, "Eric is a friend and I don't want to mess that up."

"But what if it didn't mess things up?" asked Marisol. "Friends make the best lovers."

"And if Eric has even half the charm of his father…" Clorinda sucked in a breath and let it out on a sigh. Calleigh felt herself blushing again as the story of the kiss she had shared with Eric threatened to spill out.

"Uh-oh, looks as if something's already going on," Yulia said.

"How was he?" Marisol asked.

"Marisol!" Doris exclaimed. "He's your brother!"

"I don't care, I want to make sure he knows how to treat a woman properly."

Calleigh grinned. "It was just a kiss."

The women raised such a ruckus at this tidbit that they could have been mistaken for some locker room jocks ogling a calendar girl.

"Just a kiss, she says!" exclaimed Yulia.

"It always starts with just a kiss," said Doris.

"I'm sure Eric has kissed lots of girls," Calleigh said.

"Not as many as you might think," supplied Marisol.

"Eric is picky," Clorinda said. "He didn't even go to his senior prom in high school. He just wasn't interested enough in anybody."

"Not that the girls weren't interested in him," Marisol said. "Remember all the ones that used to call for him?"

"Yeah, lucky Doris got to miss most of _that_, she had already moved out by then," Yulia explained.

"The phone used to ring constantly, it got to the point where we wouldn't even bother to answer it if Eric wasn't home," said Clorinda.

"Well, can you blame the poor girls?" asked Doris. "It's nearly impossible at seventeen to find a guy who is good looking, smart, _and _nice. Most guys that age are punks."

"He was always friends with everybody," said Clorinda.

"So have we sold you on him yet?" asked Marisol.

Calleigh laughed, answering, "I was sold on him a long time ago. I know he's a great guy.

"Then what's holding you back?" Yulia asked.

Calleigh struggled to find a valid answer but her mind clouded with the memory of processing Speed's gun. She looked down and plucked at the fringe on the coaster under her drink.

"Well," said Clorinda softly, "I suppose if it's meant to happen, it will happen."

Dinner went on the table at two o'clock. Everyone, including the children, crammed around the table with Pavel Delko at the head. When everybody was settled he launched into grace.

"Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord, Amen."

Everyone murmured "Amen" just as a cell phone rang. Calleigh and Eric both reached for theirs.

"It's mine," said Eric, flipping it open. "Delko." He paused. "Ok. Alright. Calleigh is right here, I'll tell her."

He hung up.

"That was H," he said.

------

A/N: Ok, I don't really know how the CSI work schedule goes on a holiday so I took initiative and made up my own system to fit the story. It's fiction, I'm allowed.

The names of Doris and Yulia are made up. Marisol has been indicated in the show and Eric's biography on indicates the names of his parents.


	8. Chapter 8

"That was H" Eric said. Calleigh started to push back her chair to stand but he put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Relax, he was just calling to wish us a Merry Christmas and to remind us we're off call as of now."

Seeing that there wasn't going to be any excitement, the family lost interest and dug into their food. Calleigh remained relatively quiet as she passed dishes down the table, listening to the cozy blend of Spanglish with the occasional smattering of Russian sprinkled in. There was a palpable warmth that permeated the atmosphere and Calleigh recognized it as having been absent from her own family life while she was growing up. A tiny, cynical part of her brain wondered if all the good cheer was due solely to the holidays, but the adult, rational part of her brain knew that wasn't the case. Eric had a wonderfully loving family.

The children were the first to leave the table, running to continue playing where they had left off before dinner. The men decided to move back to the living room to watch TV and the women gathered in the kitchen again, this time to clean up. When they finished, they sat with their dessert, which the men had yet to realize had been served, and continued their girl talk. This time though, they steered clear of raising Eric as a topic.

After a little while, Calleigh was feeling the effects of her Diet Coke and excused herself to use the bathroom. On the way, she had to pass through the living room and found every single one of the guys asleep. She stopped and let her gaze linger on Eric. If she had ever thought he had patented little boy looks while he was awake, it was nothing compared to how he looked asleep. He was seated at the far end of the couch and had slouched down enough to let his head lean back against the cushion. His legs were stretched out in front of him, disappearing under the coffee table and his mouth was opened slightly. As she looked, she resisted the compulsion to lean over and kiss him awake. She turned and walked down the hallway instead.

Eric woke just in time to see Calleigh walk away and dozed as he waited for her to come back by. He was ready for dessert and thought they could eat it together. After ten minutes however, she hadn't come back and Eric decided to go find her.

As he neared the end of the hallway, he heard her voice softly speaking to someone. He passed the bathroom and looked into his parents' room where Marisol had earlier laid Celisse down for a nap. There was Calleigh, walking around the room with the baby, pointing out objects and naming them.

As natural with a baby as with a gun. Was there anything this woman couldn't do? Eric stayed in the doorway, not wanting to draw attention to himself and ruin the picture she made.

"And see? That's a book that your grandpa is reading, but I don't know what it's called because it's in Russian. And there in the doorway is your Uncle Eric. He's a lug but we like him anyway."

He stepped in as she spoke of him and Celisse's face lit up as she started squirming.

"Uncle Eric, she wants you to hold her."

Eric took Celisse from Calleigh and raised her high to blow on her stomach. The baby giggled and shrieked. He did this several times before settling her on his hip.

"I heard her cooing to herself when I came out of the bathroom," Calleigh said. "She had a dirty diaper and didn't seem to mind me holding her so I started talking to her."

"She's very good natured, aren't you Celisse?" He tweaked the little girl's nose. Celisse giggled again and Calleigh smiled. "Aww, don't be jealous," he said and reached over to tweak Calleigh's nose as well. She laughed, which sent Celisse into fresh giggles as she started squirming again. "Think you'll ever want one?" he asked as he handed Celisse back to Calleigh.

"I used to think so. I'm not so sure anymore though." Eric saw a flicker of sadness pass over her face before she covered it with a smile and a joke. "I'll bet with a family like this you want at least ten don't you?" she asked.

"Oh, at least," he deadpanned. "My woman is going to stay in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant."

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "See what I mean?" she asked Celisse. "He's a lug."

"I'm a lug who wants dessert," he said. "You want some?"

"I already ate dessert with your mother and sisters."

"No wonder you all rushed off to do the dishes so quick, is there even any left?" he asked teasingly.

"I guess you'll have to look and find out," she said as they walked down the hallway and into the now empty living room. "But you better hurry, it looks like everyone else had the same idea."

X

Eric and Calleigh left not long after sunset. When they pulled into Calleigh's apartment building, Eric parked and helped her carry things inside.

"I'm never going to finish all these leftovers by myself," she said, trying to cram them into the refrigerator. "Are you hungry? I can heat something up for you."

Her head popped up from behind the refrigerator door and he couldn't help but smile. This was certainly not the Calleigh he saw at work, with her makeup faded and her hair a delightful mess from when she joined one of the children's games earlier. He liked that he was privy to such a sight.

"Eric? Are you alright?"

He snapped out of it. "Yeah, I'm fine. And no, I'm not hungry. Although I sure wouldn't mind having a piece of your sweet potato pie," he grumbled as an afterthought.

"Hey, you snooze, you lose," she said.

"How was I supposed to know it would be gone before I even got to it?"

"Never underestimate the power of a southern woman's cooking. Besides, I made the pecan pie, you had some of that."

"But I wanted to try the sweet potato. There wasn't even a crumb left."

"Marisol fed the crumbs to Celisse. She liked it."

"Beat out by someone who can't even talk yet. I have all the luck." He pouted.

"Well, if you're that upset about it, I'll make you one."

"You will?"

"Sure, I can always stand to hear more compliments on my cooking."

"Ah-ha! The truth comes out, you have an ulterior motive."

"Of course I do, you don't think I cook for fun, do you?" As she spoke she went to the cupboard and pulled out a plate, setting it on the counter. She then went back to the refrigerator and pulled out one of the containers she had just put away.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Talking about pie made me realize I wanted another piece." She grabbed a can of whipped cream and squeezed a healthy fluff onto the pie. Eric's finger suddenly darted out to scoop some and, seeing this,Calleigh reacted the only way she knew how: she seized his wrist and licked it off his finger, herself.

It took two seconds, tops, for her tongue to lap over his finger, but to Eric it felt like a decade. She looked up at him, a slightly shocked look on her face at what she'd just done. Neither said a word and all he could do was stare at a tiny spot of cream that still clung to her lips.

"Calleigh," he breathed and then let his mouth fall on hers, kissing her for the second time in a lifetime, tasting the sweetness of the cream and the saltiness of her lips, both combining to create a taste that was uniquely Calleigh, a flavor he couldn't get enough of.

She sighed, a tiny mewling sound in her throat that drove him wild, and her lips parted. He hesitated; partly to tease but mostly to give her a chance to back away. She didn't, instead he felt her sharp teeth nipping at his lower lip, forcing him to submit to her own invasion. He felt her hands snake around his hips, pulling him closer. She moved her own hips against him, leaving no doubt in his mind as to what she was suggesting. His brain screamed at him to continue the delicious friction, but he pulled back before she managed to unman him. He let his lips trail along her jawbone before resting his cheek against hers. The kitchen seemed to echo with their breathing.

"Eric, please."

Her voice, low and desperate in his ear, completely shut down any resistance he may have had. He made no protest when her hands reached up to pull his lips back to hers.

Somehow they reached the bedroom. It was the first time he had ever stepped foot into her inner sanctuary, but at that moment he couldn't have cared less. He had Calleigh, warm and willing in front of him and he wasn't about to take his eyes off the sight.

She started to take off his shirt but he stopped her. He had fantasized about this moment for too long to let it wait another minute. He pushed her back onto the bed and started by unbuttoning the blouse she wore. He half hoped, half expected to see the blue undergarments but they were black instead. The moonlight that fell through the window served to turn her skin to ivory cream and the black cloth boldly outlined the curves of her body.

It didn't take long for both sets of clothes to end up scattered on the floor as Eric and Calleigh lost themselves in each other. Afterwards, they pulled the covers up over their sweat-cooled bodies, still entwined, and fell asleep, momentarily reassured that nothing existed outside of that bedroom.

X

Speed had known this night was coming. He had known long before Calleigh and Eric had even shared their first kiss, after all, when all one can do is watch, one picks up on the nuances everyone else misses. But knowing didn't keep him from feeling the sting of betrayal when Calleigh's eyes went cloudy with lust and she kissed Eric without any intention of stopping. Knowing didn't keep him from feeling an intense hatred for the man he had once called friend.

Dammit, that should be _him _there in Eric's place, kissing her like he couldn't live without her, that should be _him _being pulled to the bedroom…

He didn't follow. There was nothing he wanted to see.

X

A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter (not like any of my chapters are very lengthy, anyways.) It was originally meant to be part of the previous chapter but I didn't want to detract from E/C nookie :)


	9. Chapter 9

Calleigh woke up slowly, feeling a warm body pressed against her back. She turned over, snuggling her face into his chest and feeling his arms tighten around her.

"Mmm, Tim," she murmured.

Suddenly she tensed as the sleep cleared from her brain. This was not Speed, this was Eric. She looked up at him, worried he had heard her slip. Thankfully he was still asleep.

She looked at the clock. It was four a.m. If they were going to be up in a couple of hours for work, he had to leave, pronto. She sat up and nudged his shoulder.

"Eric!" she whispered. "Wake up."

He sighed, stirring, and the next thing she knew, he was leaning over her, kissing her _again_, and her mind was going blank _again_, except for the part that thought it probably wouldn't hurt if they spared a few minutes.

It was 5:55 when he finally stepped out her door. She proceeded to follow her morning ritual and was in the shower when the enormity of what had happened sunk in. She was crazy. That was it. She should be locked up in a mental institution. It was one thing to have dated one team member, but to just jump into bed with a second? What was she thinking? And Eric of all people! At least with Speed it had been serious, they had both realized that, considering their positions, their relationship was not to be taken lightly. If they were going to date, it had to be for a purpose, which meant having a future, not a fling. She wasn't even the type of person to _have_ a fling. What happened?

She briefly considered the idea that she was having a midlife crisis, after all, she'd be thirty-two come February and Eric was good looking, latino and had just turned twenty-nine. She discarded the theory. Thirty-two wasdefinitely not mid-life and a three year age difference wasn't enough to start calling herself Mrs. Robinson. No, that title would be earned when, at the rate she was going, she dated Ryan.

By the time she got to work her stomach had flip-flopped so much in nervousness that she felt nauseous.

"Calleigh, I need you and Eric to go investigate a DB found in a canal," Horatio said, coming up behind her in the corridor.

"What about Ryan?" Ok, yeah, that didn't sound high school or anything.

"What about him?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you would rather have Ryan go, instead of me."

Horatio gave her a quizzical look. "Is there something else you're working on?" he asked.

"No."

"Then you and Eric are the only ones free, I've got Ryan assigned elsewhere."

"Ok, great." She gave him a big smile before she turned away, hoping it covered up her unusual lack of confidence.

She found Eric in the break room over a cup of coffee.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

They barely spoke except when necessary as they processed the scene. In fact, it wasn't until they were walking back into the CSI building afterwards that Eric leaned down to her ear and spoke to her directly.

"Take your lunch break and meet me on one of the benches across the street," he said. He was gone before she could reply.

Ten minutes later she scanned the benches for him and, not finding him, sat on one the farthest from the CSI building. He arrived moments later, a flower in his hand. A daisy. He handed it to her and sat down.

"Calleigh, we need to talk."

She opened her mouth to speak but he put a finger over her lips. "Hear me out, ok?" he asked. "I know what happened last night happened kind of fast and I want you to know that it was not just some one night stand type thing. You're my coworker and you're my friend and if anything has gone wrong between us, I want to fix it. But I've got to tell you that there's more to you than meets the eye and I would like the chance to see it. So I guess what I'm saying is, would you let me take you out tonight? On an honest to goodness real date?"

He looked so earnest sitting there, his cheeks flushing slightly as he made his speech. How could she say no? She couldn't, and that's how she ended up walking with him later that evening.

First, they went to a movie, which she was grateful for. By sitting through a movie, they could test the being-together-and-dating waters without having to make what could possibly be awkward conversation. It was a win/win situation because, if things didn't feel as though they were going right, they could end it directly afterwards. If things were going good then conversation should flow of it's own accord.

Her nerves were definitely on edge when they began the evening but by the time they exited the theatre, the easy familiarity they were used to had returned. Just because they were on a date didn't mean their status as friends had changed. They decided to take a walk in a nearby park.

"Tell me something about yourself," she asked. She had come to realize, over the course of the evening, that, although she knew Eric in a sense, she didn't really know much _about_ him.

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Something nobody else knows about you, I guess."

"On my days off I sometimes watch _Days of Our Lives_."

Now _there_ was something she hadn't expected. "You do not," she said, disbelieving.

"Yes, I do. Do you want me to recite the Brady family tree for you to prove it?"

"No, no, it's ok, I believe you," she said, smiling.

"Now you've got to tell me your deepest darkest secret," he said, giving her a devilish grin.

I dated Speed. We were in love. If he were still alive we'd be married. I wonder if I'd have a kid by now.

No.

"I'm terrified of guns."

Now it was his turn to give her a disbelieving look. Actually, it had a bit of shock mixed with it as well.

"The Bullet Girl is terrified of guns?"

She nodded.

"How is that?" he asked.

"When I was little, guns seemed to be these awful things that could go off at the drop of a hat. To prove myself wrong, I forced myself to learn everything I could about shooting."

"So you're not scared of them anymore, then."

"No. Using a gun still means there's the likely chance someone will die as a result. That still scares me," she said softly.

"But that doesn't stop you."

"No, it doesn't."

"Wow, you learn something new everyday."

"Yeah, like your manly-man coworker is a soap opera addict." She shot him a teasing glance, trying to turn the mood light.

"Hey now, I wouldn't say I'm an addict!" he said. "I just happen to like a little comic relief is all."

She laughed. "Ok, fine. You know, if it makes you feel any better, I've watched it a time or two myself."

"Ha! See?"

"But I don't think I could tell you who's who in the Brady family tree. I guess to each his own."

"Come on, I have sisters, what do you expect?"

"Oh, that's just an excuse, next you'll be telling me that they forced you to watch it while they put makeup on you."

He didn't say anything but she saw his cheeks redden.

"Oh, Eric, you poor thing, it must have been hard being the baby." She was trying not to snicker but wasn't being very successful.

He gave her what was supposed to be a menacing look. "Oh shove it," he said before joining in her laughter.

Later, he drove her home and walked her to her doorstep. She unlocked the door and then turned back around, leaning against it.

"This was nice, Eric, thank you."

"Thank you for giving me the chance to take you out." He paused. "I hope we can do it again sometime," he ended softly.

Instead of replying, she reached up and brought his head down for a kiss. This time it was tentative, safe and sweet. There was none of the biting hunger that had flavored their previous kisses. It held the possibility for hope.

She pulled away, smoothing a hand over his cheek before turning to disappear into her apartment.

X

A/N: Another short one. Merry Christmas ya'll :)


	10. Chapter 10

It had been three months since their first "official" date, and Eric still couldn't believe he was actually dating Calleigh Duquesne. Maybe that was because, at times, it didn't feel much like he was. That's not to say that they didn't go out together, or even that they didn't sometimes stay in together. That wasn't the issue though, it was more the way she seemed to regard their relationship.

Nobody they worked with knew about them. That had been a ground rule Calleigh had set from the beginning. She didn't want personal and professional lives to mix, and Eric agreed that it would just cause problems if they did. In truth, it wasn't a hard rule to stick to. At work there were bigger issues to deal with and outside of work they wanted a break from all they'd seen during the day. Things should have been going smoothly and, in theory, they were. There was just one thing that was bothering him, and it was that Calleigh didn't seem to be as serious as he wanted to be. She participated in the relationship, sure, and he felt that she genuinely cared for him, but she also seemed to be holding back from him. It was as though there was a part of her that would shatter if he were granted access to it. He felt it wasn't fair to constantly pin the blame on her rotten childhood, but he couldn't think of any other reason for Calleigh to shut him out. It worried him and he knew he couldn't ignore it for much longer. He had to talk to her eventually.

X

Calleigh was once again on the range, firing practice shots. The dilemma on her mind that day was Eric.

She could tell he was beginning to notice something was wrong. There was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to be swept up with him on the journey towards, well, wherever it was he wanted them to be. The bigger part of her however, couldn't help but drag its heels. And the worst part of it all was that she'd been having nightmares lately. Her mind, for the first time in months, began to fixate on what must have happened in that jewelry store. The same dream played over and over all night, every night. Except…except it wasn't Speed she saw in her dream, it was Eric.

She pulled the trigger. Again, again, again. She had come to a decision.

X

Eric was walking through the parking lot of the CSI building when his cell phone rang.

"Delko."

"Eric, are you off yet?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving."

"Good, I'm coming over to talk."

Shit. She sounded serious, which meant it couldn't be good. He tried to play it cool.

"Alright, I'll be home in about ten minutes."

When he pulled into his apartment parking lot, he saw her car in front of his complex. She was leaning against the driver's side door, sunglasses on and hands in her pockets, looking confidently Calleigh. As he walked up to her he leaned in for a kiss, but she pushed him away.

"Let's go inside," she said.

Wordlessly, he followed her up the stairs and opened the door to his apartment. He set his keys on the front table and watched as she started pacing the living room. She stopped in front of his bookshelf and reached up to run her fingers over the spines. Her back was to him, but through her shirt he could see the stiffness of he shoulders.

"Calleigh?" he asked tentatively. A thought struck him. "Calleigh, are you pregnant?" For a brief moment he let hope replace his worry. A baby. A little Calleigh.

His worry returned when she shook her head.

"No. Eric, we have tostop this."

He looked away and decided to play dumb."Stop what?"

"This, Eric. The whole thing. You know what I mean," she said exasperatedly.

He did know and, although he had seen this coming from a mile away, he didn't feel prepared for it. He certainly didn't know how to convince her to stay.

"Don't do this, Calleigh," he said, his voice flat, covering his emotions.

"Why not? Give me one good reason."

One good reason? "Because I care about you," he said.

"That's it?" she said rudely. "You care about me? We're coworkers Eric, we have complications if we care." She looked back to the books. "Besides, love doesn't make the world go round, you know." She started towards the door and he caught her arm as she passed him.

"Oh, is that your excuse, then?" he spat at her. "God forbid two people who spend day in and day out together actually _care_ for each other. Because that would be the end of your little world, wouldn't it? The perfect existence that you maintain would be ruined wouldn't it, because you let yourself _feel _something? You've grown up too cynical, Calleigh."

"Jesus, Eric, that's not fair!" she hissed. "Not everyone can have the perfect family and the perfect life, like you."

"No, but there are people out there who are worse off than you and what are they doing? They're living! Are you?"

Her hand came across his face, hard and swift.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about things you know nothing about!"

She shoved him out of the way and he made no move to stop her as she left. As soon as the door slammed shut, he felt horrible. He'd been too angry at her ability to brush him off to stop himself from saying the things he'd said.

He tried to call her cell phone, but she didn't answer. Damn caller ID. He knew better than to go to her though, unless he wanted a repeat performance of the slap. He'd let her cool down and then he'd go to her and apologize. In the meantime he needed to talk to someone.

X

"Eric!" Marisol opened her front door to find her little brother standing on the stoop. She ushered him in and sat him at the kitchen table, handing him a soda.

"Where are the kids?" Eric asked.

"They're with mom, she wanted to spend some time with them. Luis is still at work."

Eric nodded, at a loss for wordsthat wouldcontinue theidle conversation, but not knowing how to begin talking about what was bothering him. Luckily, Marisol broached the subject for him.

"So what happened to your cheek?" she asked, eyeing the red mark on his face.

He sighed, rolling thecan between his palms. "Calleigh and I had a fight."

"Oh Eric, what did you do?"

He looked up at her, surprised she could so quickly pin the blame on him.

"Don't look at me like that," she said. "A woman doesn't slap a man for no reason. What happened?"

"She came over to break up. We ended up yelling at each other. I—I may have said some not so nice things to her."

"Eric!"

"I was angry, Marisol. What did I do that she could just blow me off like that?" He looked up at her with hurt eyes. She softened slightly, wishing she could help make it better.

"She's probably scared."

Scared?

"Of what?" he asked.

"Of being in another relationship. From what I could tell, her last relationship was pretty serious."

The last relationship Eric had known Calleigh to be in was with John Hagen. She'd always managed to seem annoyed by the man, how could that have been serious?

"It must be tough trying to deal with the death someone you love," Marisol continued. "I don't know how I'd cope if I ever lost Luis."

Wait, what?

"Marisol, _what_ are you talking about?"

"Calleigh! It must be hard for her to move on. You should have been more understanding."

Understanding of what? Marisol seemed to be talking nonsense.

"I don't think I'm following what you mean," he said.

"It's not brain surgery," Marisol said, unable to comprehend why he was being so dense. "If a woman has a man she cares for and then said man dies, said woman might feel guilty for being interested in another man."

"Are you saying Calleigh had a relationship with a guy who died?"

"Yes!"

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Calleigh told us. What? Didn't you know about it?"

"No," he said, furrowing his brow.

"Well, I don't think you she lied to us, so you must not have been paying much attention to her." She sounded accusatory.

"Hey, I've had my own worries to deal with, remember? One of _my_ best friends died." He stopped short. No way. He would have _known_ if Calleigh and Speed were together. Everybody would have. They worked too closely together for there to be a secret like that, right? After all, he had assumed that, although they were keeping it under wraps, everybody knew about himself and Calleigh.

He stood up. "I have to go talk to her," he said.

Marisol nodded. "Just try to be understanding of what she's going through," she said as she walked him to the door. She watched him cut across the lawn to his car and thought that, despite everything, Calleigh was a very lucky woman to have a man like Eric in love with her.

X

Calleigh slammed her front door with such force that the pictures she had hanging on the wall rattled. Her hand still ached and she felt a lump in her throat, making her wish desperately that she could cry. She didn't have Speed and she sure as heck didn't have Eric now, when had her life taken such a turn? No. Her life had always been like this. It was just that this time she wasn't sure how to smile through it.

What was the big deal anyway? It wasn't as though she and Eric had been serious. Why did she feel so crappy about the whole thing? She entered her bathroom and leaned against the sink, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and she felt rather warm. Maybe it was just PMS. In a couple days she'd start her period, her hormones would even out and she'd feel normal again. Yep, PMS, guaranteed to make an already rotten situation, worse,

She briefly considered indulging in a bath or a shopping spree or even a nap, but she knew none of those things would settle her mind. She started pacing around her apartment, picking up knick-knacks and looking at pictures. She felt stifled suddenly, and so headed out the door to continue her pacing through the neighborhood.

She had been out for half an hour, the sun was quickly disappearing, and she still had no intentions of going back to her apartment when she heard a car engine rumbling behind her.

"Calleigh!"

She didn't bother to turn around.

"Calleigh, please, we need to talk!"

Was he going to cause a scene?

"I know about Speed, Calleigh!"

She froze. Slowly she turned and saw him, one hand on the wheel as he leaned out the window. His eyes were pleading, desperate and sad, all at once. She hadn't seen him look like that since Speed's funeral.

Almost against her will, she went to his car and got in. She sat, silent, as he drove on. She paid no attention to where he was going, but noticedwhen hepulled into an empty parking lot. He parked and turned off the car. The silence pressed against her ears and made her feel as though she should say something to fill it.

"How'd you find out?" she asked.

"Marisol told me what you'd said. She thought I already knew."

She nodded. She should have expected that eventually. They both fell silent again.

"How long?" Eric finally asked.

She didn't answer right away, feeling annoyed by the question. Why should she have to divulge to him all the things that had become her private source of pain? She felt like a teenage girl who had just gotten grounded before prom…it wasn't fair.

"Long enough," she said, but immediately felt as though she owed him a better explanation. After all, the three of them had shared a lot, and Speed had been Eric's best friend. How did it feel for him to find out Speed had been hiding something from him? Or maybe it was different for guys? Either way she suddenly felt compelled to explain.

"Long enough that he bought a ring for me the week before he…a week before."

"Jesus, Calleigh, I didn't know."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"But I said some horrible things earlier. You're right, I shouldn't make assumptions of things I know nothing about."

"It's alright, you were angry, I know you didn't mean it."

"It still doesn't excuse it," he said. She still didn't say anything, so he continued. "Calleigh, I want you to know that I'll be here for you. We're still friends and I care about you."

"Eric…" Her voice held a warning to stay away from the subject he was broaching.

"Calleigh, I'm not going to lie to you. I care about you as a friend and I care about you as more than a friend."

"I care about you too, but we can't be together," she said.

"And why's that?"

"Because we work together."

He cocked his head. This was shaping up to sound like their previous argument. "Oh come on, give me a valid excuse."

"Fine. I care too much to lose you. Are you happy now?"

"Is that what's bothering you? You're afraid I'll end up like Speed?"

She hadn't let herself consciously think it, but she knew he had hit the nail on the head.

"Just let it go, would you?" she asked.

"No. I won't. You can't become someone who's scared to take chances."

"I'm not scared!" she spat at him.

"Then don't push me away like this. I'm willing to let you have all the time and support you need, but don't shut me out."

"You don't understand."

"Don't understand? Calleigh, I lost a good friend when Speed died. Don't you think I get scared too?"

"Eric, I don't think I could handle it if it happened a second time. Sometimes I'm not even sure I'm handling it this time."

At that he reached out to embrace her and she let him, even though she was embarrassed for exposing what she felt to be weakness.

"It's not going to happen a second time, I promise," he said.

"You can't promise something like that."

Her words hung in the air and he turned them over in his mind, contemplating whether or not his next words would be worth saying.

They were.

"Calleigh, I don't ever want to leave you."


	11. Epilogue

Speed could feel the presence of the woman before he saw her. He'd been alone on that level of existence long enough now that he could sense the tiniest thrumming she caused, running through him as she approached.

"You seem to be ready now?"

"Almost," he said. "I know she's ok now but I, uh, I never said goodbye."

The woman nodded, understanding, and receded, leaving him to walk into the building by himself. He found Calleigh, alone for the first time that day, in a back room. She sat quietly, staring at herself in the mirror that was in front of her. She had a contented half smile on her face.

He stood to one side of her, watching as she absently turned her head this way and that, checking her hair, her makeup, her earrings. She had always looked good in white.

He cleared his throat and she seemed to cock her head the tiniest bit, as though listening for something. He knew she couldn't really hear him, but he spoke anyways.

"Calleigh, I want to say first that I'm sorry. I wish things could have gone differently. However, they didn't and…and I'm glad you're happy. Second…I love you."

Just then, another woman, wearing the lightest of pinks, burst through the door.

"Calleigh, it's time!"

Calleigh grinned, standing up to embrace the other woman excitedly before they left.

Speed nodded to himself. "Yeah, I'm ready."

X

The wedding was a spectacular Catholic affair, complete with Mass. As Calleigh and Eric knelt in front of the altar, they barely heard a word the priest was saying, they were too busy passing secret glances and whispers to notice there was an outside world.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." They had said their vows and now Eric tipped her chin up to seal them with a kiss. They both laughed as they pulled apart, amazed that they had finally made it. It had been worth the wait.

The reception was chaotic. After entering and being announced for the first time as "Mr. and Mrs. Eric Delko," so many people swarmed them to congratulate and talk to them that they were quickly separated. Since the dinner was buffet style rather than a formal sit down affair, the dancing started almost immediately and Eric and Calleigh didn't meet up again until someone raised the cry for them to dance together. They met in the center of the dance floor and, as the music swept them up, she leaned into him, head on his chest. After a moment though, she looked back up at him.

"I love you Mrs. Delko," he said when he caught her eyes.

She matched the grin on his face. "I love you, Mr. Duquesne."

They both laughed, having made the names part of a private joke between them months prior. Just then, Calleigh saw something she had to point out.

"Look at that, Ryan and Valera are dancing together," she said.

"So they are. Maybe they aren't as dense as we thought," Eric said with a laugh.

"Maybe not. You know, he asked her to come with him and, technically, I think that counts as a date, so…"

He groaned, knowing what was coming next.

"…I think you owe me some money," she finished.

He laughed and then leaned down to cover the smirk she was giving him with a kiss. They both blushed as those around them started clapping and whistling, but that didn't stop them. The boundaries had already been broken and there was no way they were ever going back.

FINIS

A/N: Well, how bout that? Done. Makes me realize why I went on a two-year hiatus from writing fanfiction. But seriously, I enjoyed writing this story and I enjoyed entertaining you all. Now, I'm not going to say I'm never going to write fanfiction again, but with the new semester and all, I will say that I probably won't be writing any continuous stories anytime in the near future (even though this story has given me the urge to write about Ryan and Valera…where are they headed after the wedding, hmm?) However, my love for E/C runs deep and I heartily enjoy throwing these two together, so I shall continue my fanfic pursuits in my LiveJournal ) where I've already written a few naughty vignettes. My LJ is friends only but these entries are public so they should be right at the top (username: Meowmix1066) However, should they somehow get lost, they are also linked in my memories as E/C ?usermeowmix1066&keywordE/Cvignettes&filterall

I am a major review whore so any feedback is always welcomed :)

Interesting (perhaps) tidbits:

I made Calleigh Catholic on purpose. I had a scene in my head of having her attend Midnight Mass with Eric which, in my humble opinion, would have been incredibly romantic since the church would be all pretty and there would be the air of mystery that seems to surround the Catholic ceremony, especially on Christmas Eve. However, the scene never panned out and I was stuck with a Catholic-for-no-reason Calleigh. Ah well, at least it was a Catholic wedding, lol.

Chapter 10 was the bane of my existence. At one point while I was writing it, Calleigh saw a psychiatrist who told her to take some mandatory time off. She was then going to head to Louisiana where I think I would have gotten into a whole mess of backstory that I didn't want to deal with in this story so I nixed it.

Speed was originally supposed to play a bigger part than he did. There's no real explanation for why he didn't except that I still wanted fluffiness in this story. If I had put more Speed in, it would have downed it too much.

Horatio went to the wedding with Yelina. Yeah, come on, they're meant for each other. I only put the Rebecca thing in cause I needed to have something that was starting around the same time as Speed's death so Calleigh wouldn't notice it. So, since the timing between the end of Chapter 10 and the Epilogue is at least a year (maybe more,) Horatio had plenty of time to drop Rebecca, explain himself to Yelina and sweep her off her feet or whatever it is that Super!H does to women.


End file.
